Bill Text: NY A06760 | 2017-2018 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Prohibits school district employees from having contact with children under the age of eighteen on social media without the written consent of a parent or legal guardian unless the child is a family member.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-01-03 - referred to education [A06760 Detail]

Download: New_York-2017-A06760-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                          6760
                               2017-2018 Regular Sessions
                   IN ASSEMBLY
                                     March 17, 2017
                                       ___________
        Introduced by M. of A. CUSICK -- read once and referred to the Committee
          on Education
        AN  ACT  to  amend  the education law, in relation to prohibiting school
          district employees from having contact with children under the age  of
          eighteen on social media
          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section 1. The education law is amended by adding a new  section  3037
     2  to read as follows:
     3    §  3037. Prohibition of contact on social media. 1. No teacher, teach-
     4  er's aide, administrator, or other employee of a school  district  shall
     5  be  friends  with, follow, or otherwise associate with a child under the
     6  age of eighteen via social media without the written consent of a parent
     7  or legal guardian unless such child is a family member; provided, howev-
     8  er, that this section shall  not  prevent  a  teacher,  teacher's  aide,
     9  administrator,  or  other employee of a school district from interacting
    10  with or associating with a child under the age of eighteen on a  website
    11  or  social  media  which is approved by the school to be used for educa-
    12  tional purposes.
    13    2. For the purposes of this section:
    14    a. the term "family member" shall mean a son, daughter,  aunt,  uncle,
    15  niece,  nephew,  or  grandchild of the teacher or a son, daughter, aunt,
    16  uncle, niece, nephew, or grandchild of the spouse  or  partner  of  such
    17  teacher,  teacher's  aide,  administrator, or other employee of a school
    18  district.
    19    b. the term "social media" shall include, but shall not be limited to,
    20  forms of communication through which users participate in online  commu-
    21  nities  to  share  information,  ideas,  personal  messages,  and  other
    22  content. Social media shall also include text messages  and  the  trans-
    23  mission of images via electronic forms of communication.
    24    §  2.  This  act  shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall
    25  have become a law.
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD10605-01-7